Comps up for Bed Bath & Beyond’s second quarter

A recovering housing market spells good news for the home and housewares, as seen in Bed Bath & Beyond’s second quarter results for the period ended Aug. 31.

The company reported net earnings of $1.16 per diluted share, or $249.3 million, for the quarter, an increase of 18.4% versus net earnings of $0.98 per diluted share, or $224.3 million, in the same quarter a year ago.

Net sales for the quarter were $2.8 billion, an increase of 8.9% from $2.6 billion for the second quarter last year. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 3.7%, compared with an increase of approximately 3.5% in last year's fiscal second quarter.

The company has a total of 1,484 stores, including 1,009 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, 266 stores under the names of World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus, 86 Buybuy Baby stores, 74 stores under a combination of the names of Christmas Tree Shops or andThat!, and 49 stores under the names of Harmon or Harmon Face Values.

During the fiscal second quarter, the company opened one Bed Bath & Beyond store, one Christmas Tree Shops store, three Buybuy Baby stores and one Harmon Face Values store.